Senior defensive back on Texas Tech's 2025 roster.
6′0″ · 195 lb · Brownwood, TX
CFB Index
A single number blending on-field production (an EPA-based value lane) with box-score output for this player's position.
0-100, scaled within each position's own cohort — not directly comparable across positions.
Recruiting
CB recruit
No. 1163 nationally · Signed with Brownwood
No college snaps yet.
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
4 defensive back on Texas Tech's 2025 roster.
AJ McCarty
Moves between deep coverage and the slot. Across five seasons and two programs, two head coaches: Dave Aranda and Joey McGuire. One game to point at: 4 tackles against Houston — Week 6, 2025.
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
His career
He was on the field for 5 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.
Career arc
Coaching lineage · 2020–2025
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Matt Wells → Joey McGuire. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
Season context · Team result + system
Where this defender ranks vs the field
Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort
Concern: sacks (24th percentile).
Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 8 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 2.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Road2g | 3.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-75g | 2.8 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Weeks 8+3g | 2.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Joey McGuire
Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.
Player standing · 2025
Tackle volume for the position in rotation-piece range.
Recognition
Production · CFB Index Score
Three-star recruit. Now #481 at the position.
2026 outlook
Outside shot for All-Big 12
Based on 2025: #39 of 42 Big 12 DBs
15% estimated, 95% confidence interval 13–17%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Texas Tech | 21 | 14 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 1 | -- | -- |
| 2024 | Texas Tech | 29 | 18 | 6.5 | 0.5 | 2 | 2 | -- |
| 2022 | Baylor | 34 | 28 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3 | 1 | -- |
| 2021 | Baylor | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | -- | -- |
| 2020 | Baylor | 1 | -- | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 88 | 63 | 9.5 | 0.5 | 7 | 3 | -- |
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 8 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 67-7vs Arkansas-Pine Bluff | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 62-14vs Kent State | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | Season-high 4 tackles |
| Wk 3 | W 45-14vs Oregon State | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | W 35-11@ Houston | 4 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 42-17vs Kansas | 3 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | W 42-0vs Oklahoma State | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | W 48-9vs UCF | 2 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | W 49-0@ West Virginia | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 21 | 14 | 3.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 |
Play style
Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.
CFB Index positional classification
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
21 tackles. 1 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 3 TFL.
Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.
2026 Outlook
Texas Tech
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Defensive back · Texas Tech
Returning around him
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Texas Tech · Last season: 12-2 (AP #4) · Talent rank #29 · 2026 recruiting class #18
Player DNA
Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Andre Turrentine’s 2023 season.
Matches Andre on
Differs from Andre on
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a graduate, his production profile tracks closest to Cameron Williams's graduate season at Georgia Southern (2024).
Matches Cameron on
Player DNA